10.12.2018

ARC Review: THE GATHERING by L.A. Fiore

Words like unnatural and impure started the whispers.

From the very beginning, Ivy Blackwood was different. She was only a child when she was accused of setting the fire, one she passively watched engulf the small house she had called home. Her fingertips burned and her hair singed. Some who watched her crossed themselves, convinced she was soulless for she showed no emotion at all. Calm and dispassionate, even when the screaming started that quickly turned to bellows of agony before dying into nothing but the roaring of the fire.

She was locked away where she couldn’t bring harm to herself or others. To all involved, they had protected the world from a monster, but sometimes things are not what they seem.

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★★★★★

I've loved L.A. Fiore from the very start. From the first book of hers I've read to the last, she has captivated me with her words. Every story is unique. I've fallen in love with every character. And... every one of her heroes has made it to the top of my book boyfriends list!

The piece of me I didn't know was missing was returned with nothing more than a simple glance.

In The Gathering, the first book of the Ivy Blackwood Chronicles - her first foray into another subgenre and she chooses paranormal - Fiore gave us a new world order to become invested in. It touches on reincarnation, the fight of good vs. evil, mythology, creatures of the night, our assumptions about evil, and the inevitability of true love.

"In all the years that I have lived, and I have lived so fucking long, I have missed you."

Ivy was confined to a mental hospital in New Orleans for 20 years. That's 20 years of loneliness... 20 years of disillusionment... 20 years of planning. She knows that the darkness is coming, but she has no idea, not yet, of the huge role she plays in fighting it. Bain has lived for centuries as a lycan and he and his crew have been summoned to New Orleans because they also play a huge part in the fight, Bain most of all. Absolute evil is here, turning people against each other, changing the very fabric of reality. The forces of what is good and what is right, the forces that are meant to protect humanity, must find a way to balance the tides once again.

Ivy and Bain owned me! I couldn't get enough of their connection and I loved how interwoven their history was with their present. Their love was intricate, complicated and yet so simple at the same time. It was beautiful and I wanted more!

I'd remember always how she looked at me in that moment because that was the kind of love worth breaking the rules for, worth sacrificing for, worth dying for.

So was Fiore successful in creating a new paranormal fandom? Based on my five-star rating, I'd say she definitely was. The Gathering was so different from anything this author has ever produced, however, it was still just as alluring and exciting and intense and intriguing and stunning as anything else she's written. I have no idea when the next book of these chronicles will be complete, but I for one am ready to continue the adventure.